The Real Thing
by Zoe625
Summary: Tazmin is a real mermaid that the girls exchange facts with.But when danger arrives and Tazmin's dad finds out about the girls,Tazmin is locked up in the castle even though she can defeat the thret.And are the girl's boyfriends falling for Tazmin?
1. Tazmin's Hiding Place

"Would you just stay still?" Melody made a fifth grab at my hair.

"What do you think? I like my hair down! Why don't you just put some pearls in it or something? I've got my seaweed hair bow. That's one of the few things you can put in my hair."

Melody made a sixth and final grab at my hair. "Goodness gracious, Tazmin. Can't you just let me do your hair once? All your sisters wanted me to do _their_ hair."

I gave her a bored look. "Do I LOOK like my sisters?" Melody opened her mouth but I put my hand up for silence. "I never like my hair done. How many times have you tried? At least forty in my life time." Melody looked sad. "Just…don't do my hair."

Melody nodded. "You just always tantalize me with that beautiful long blond hair…" I flicked my hand toward the door and swam out.

I sunk down on the stool as I decorated my hair. I had a circle of sparkle pearls. Every six pearls, a long chain of pearls. Except the front where my face goes. After that, I put my sea shell clip on. I don't care about looks, but I have to look good for my performance.

As you can guess, I'm a mermaid. I have a long beautiful light blue tail. According to my father, my singing voice is the most beautiful voice in Atlantis. Tonight I had a performance. I didn't like showing off. But all my sisters wanted me to have a solo in their performance. I have like, twenty sisters. I didn't all of them but most.

I didn't want to do it. I had some business with something else. I found this really cool hide out. According to a book I found in a shipwreck, it was an empty volcano. But the part I like about it is the pool. At the bottom of the volcano, is a small pool. It's an interesting place.

I didn't want to sing. I wanted to explore. I felt like a trout in a net. Can't move without getting more tangled. I wanted to rip the net and explore the corners of the ocean.

I like exploring. It's like buying something no one else has. I have a small bag full of food, paper for maps, things like compasses, already made maps, and sketches of places in the sea. I was always prepared for an adventure of any kind.

I had the last performance, so I didn't need to stay for the whole thing. I had at least an hour. I was going to go to the volcano island. I hadn't told anyone, afraid they would go there. After I thought everyone in Atlantis went to the concert, I grabbed my bag and slipped out. I hadn't gone far when my best friend saw me. "Hey, Tazmin! Where ya goin?" Skippy. He's a Sea otter, and my best friend.

I waved. "I'm going to the volcano island." Skippy got excited.

"I love that place! Can I come too?"

"Sure." He swam over by my side. We both swam to the Island. There's a long underwater tunnel that goes on for a while. At least two miles. I dashed in with Skippy by my side. We finally surfaced. The small pool just seemed magical.

I sat there in that pool for hours and hours. I was still in that pool when I heard a seagull was screaming my name. "Tazmin! Tazmin!" I sighed and looked up. That's when I noticed the sun. Directly over the top of the volcano. I pulled a small sundial and a compass. I found true north and laid the sundial correctly.

CRAP! I had left Atlantis at six. It was now eight. I had missed my solo. YES! I had more fun here than any performance. I was going down when something came up. Three heads. Human heads.


	2. Friends From Other Places

The three heads came up. One had dark hair, the other two had blond. I froze. They had found my secret hideout. They were laughing until they saw me.

I had some magic. I can do anything with water. What I did was stick out my hand and made water fly up and get in their eyes. To them it looked like I splashed them. I started to swim out, but the water got so hot I had to get up. I did. I surfaced and shrieked.

"AAAHH." I inhaled through my teeth. "You devils of a sea witch! How did you know about this place? You followed me didn't you." They all looked scared. "Just please don't tell my dad. He'll kill me if he finds this place. I was supposed to be at the performance. But I hate singing. I wanted to go here. Skippy did too. Just please don't tell my dad. Please, please, please, please, PLEASE!" They looked startled.

They all looked at each other. The brown one looked at me and said, "We were wondering how _you_ got here." She had an Australian accent. They all nodded.

I pointed to the underground tunnel. "Same way you did." They still looked confused.

"You couldn't have. You wouldn't have been able to hold your breath for that long. Where's your gear?"

Oh no. Hadn't prepared any stories. "Well, I…ah." I was coming up with something good, when one blond went down and came back up.

"She's just like us." The other girls smiled. What does that mean?

The brown looked at me and said, "Well, welcome to Mako Island. I'm Cleo Setori. This is Emma Gilbert." She pointed to the blond on her left. "And this is Rikki Chadwick." She pointed to the girl who had gone under. I nodded and smiled. There was a silence.

"Aren't you going to tell us your name?" That was Emma.

"I'm not sure I should."

Cleo came up to me and said, "Why not? We told you our names."

"Because I'm not like you."

Cleo had a huge grin on her face. "Oh, yeah? Well, try this." She went under and I saw a huge orange mermaid tail. I smiled.

"In that case, my name is Tazmin." There was a silence. "What?"

"You don't have to be scared. It's not like we're going to look you up in the phone book," said Rikki

Five seconds of silence. "I repeat: What?"

"You can tell us your last name," Said Cleo. I looked at them.

"What's a last name?" They all looked confused. Emma swam over to me.

"You don't have a last name?" She put her arm around me. I shook my head no. "Mine is Gilbert. Cleo's is Setori, and Rikki's is Chadwick."

"I was wondering, how was the concert?" They still looked confused.

"What concert?" Rikki swam around to me.

I laughed. "My sisters of course. They always have a concert. I was included, but I don't like singing in public. Then I lost track of time and missed it. My dad sent seagulls to find me, but they wouldn't come here. They don't even know this place is here. Too close to the humans. But I like it. So does Skippy." On the sound of his name, he looked up. He squeaked a few times then went back to doing what he was doing. "If your mermaids, then how do you not know about this? All citizens of Atlantis know about my sisters."

They all looked confused. Then Rikki looked happy. "You mean Atlantis is real?" I simply nodded.

"I live there. I'm a princess there. Even though I would rather be an explorer's daughter." I looked down.

Emma said, "You're a real mermaid form Atlantis _and_ a princess?" I nodded again. They were all surprised. Like they didn't know.

"Well, aren't you?" They all shook their heads no. "Then where are you from?" I gasped. I put my hand out ready to defend myself. "Are you…Sirens?"Sirens would take any chance to kidnap the daughter of the king.

"Well, Cleo was once. But she's a terrible singer when she's not taking lessons from full moon." Rikki made weird alien fingers. They all laughed but I didn't get the joke. "So you can take us to Atlantis?" I nodded. "Can you show it to us?"

I looked up at the top of the volcano. The sun was only partially shining. I looked at my sundial on the rock. It said three 'o clock. I was late for curfew. My dad wants all twenty girls home before two thirty. If we are, we can spend the rest of the day in Atlantis. If not, we spend the whole day in the castle. Annoying but it's a rule.

"Oh, no. I'm late! Sorry, I'd show you but I'm already late for curfew." I pointed to the sundial. "I have to be home before two thirty. It's three. I'd show you, but I'm late."

"Wait," Emma said. "What time is it?"

I looked back at the sundial. "Three o' four."

"Man. I told my mum I'd be back at three ten. I've only got about…six minutes." Emma looked sad.

"Six minutes is about how long it will take to get back home," Rikki said.

Then Emma said, "Well, we better head out. Tazmin, can we meet you here tomorrow?"

I shook my head. "My dad's going to ground me most likely. Then give me an earful about my priorities as a princess and missing the concert. I might be able to see you next week. Is that good for you?" They all nodded.

"I'll check with my dad. Meet us here at the same time. Three 'o clock." I nodded.

"Alright. This time exactly a week from today. That's going to be…a Friday. So next week Friday, we meet here at Volcano Island."

"It's called Mako Island," said Emma.

"Oh. Well, till next time, Goodbye fish friends!"

With that I grabbed my sundial and compass and dived down and put my tail into overdrive soon I got to the beautiful gate of Atlantis. I hoped for the best but expected the worst.


	3. Punishment and Dreams

I got to the gates of Atlantis. The guards recognized me and the gates opened. I swam all the way to the palace.

"Tazmin, where have you been? You missed the concert and then you stay out past curfew? You have a lot of explaining to do to your father." My mother. Correction: my _step_-mother. My mother died when I was about nine. My dad remarried when I was twelve. Now I was around seventeen.

My step-mother was alright, but I would rather have my old mother. My step mother was like a model, but she spent too much time on her looks. She didn't really care about what we girls thought. But she did like my dad. That you could tell. "Sorry ma'm. I lost track of time."

She had a laugh that sounded like a bell. "Just call me Donna, or Mom, but you don't need to say ma'm." I nodded but didn't say anything.

She took me to the throne room where my dad was sitting. He was tall and muscular. He had a small crown on his head and his trident in his hand. He had brown hair and a small brown goatee. He has a smile that just lights up the room.

But today he wasn't smiling.

"Tazmin, you better have a good explanation for this disappearance. You miss your sister's concert then stay out after curfew. You should know your priorities--"

I interrupted and rolled my eyes. "My priorities as a princess and I should have known better, and blah, blah, blah, and I'm not a commoner's daughter and I have other things to do. Dad, I just want to have fun. You know I don't like singing. I never even signed up for the concert. As for the curfew, I lost track of time. It won't happen again." My dad pondered this new information.

"Donna, what do you think?" My dad turned to my mom.

"Well, she is telling the truth when she says she didn't sign up for the concert. And if she doesn't miss curfew again, I think at least grounded for a two days." My dad nodded.

"Alright, two days of grounding." He thunked the bottom of his trident on the floor twice and I swam out.

Once in my room, I pulled of my top and I put some cream on. Suppose to keep salt from getting in my skin. I pulled on a snug, perfect fitting night shirt. I pulled back the covers and slipped in.

I hoped I would dream about my new friends. But, when I was born, my dad gave me a special gift. When I dream, I dream about my future. I wasn't sure what I saw. I saw something black and evil. I also saw a kind face. It was a boy. Not a merman but a human. He was about as tall as Cleo, and had blond floppy hair that made a circle around his head. The weird thing was, I saw him and myself.

He was kissing me.


	4. Meet My Dream Boy

"Wake up you! And can I please do your hair?" Melody.

"No thank you Melody. Can you go now?" I heard a growl and then the door close. I sat up and stretched. I got out of bed. I went to the closet and picked out my favorite shirt. I put it on and swam out.

My dad doesn't force us to eat together so I grabbed some food, shoved it in my bag and swam of to…Mako Island. I was hoping to get luck and see the girls. I ate while I swam.

When I got there, I just sat on the rock edge. I put out the sundial so I would be able to see what time it was. I got there around eight. They came around eight thirty. And they brought someone with them.

"Tazmin! You're here!" just as the other person looked up, I went down. It was a human. I swam farther down. I looked up and saw Cleo. The thing about mermaids, is they can I talk. Just stare into another mermaid's eyes, and think what you want to say. Apparently Cleo didn't know that.

I said, "Why did you bring a human?" She looked startled. She swam back up. A few minute later she swam down again. She gestured for me to go up. I finally did. This time, I spoke. "Why did you bring human here?"

"What? Are you not a human?" I stared pointedly at him with an evil eye.

"What do you think?" I thought spoke to him that time. Then I realized who it was. The boy from my dream. The one I kissed! "YOU!"

"Me. What? Do I have a zit on my face?"

Rikki said, "No. It's just one giant zit."

"It's you. The boy from my dream!" He looked startled.

Cleo said, "You know him?" I nodded.

"He was in my dream."

They boy climbed out of the water. He had a huge bag that had huge equipment. Some of it I knew. Magnets, plumb lines, and compasses. Other than that, I had no idea what it was. He pulled of his scuba suit and under it, he had human clothes.

"My name is Louis. Louis McCartney. I'm a friend of the girls." He squatted down and held his hand out towards me.

I poked it. "What's this for?"

"What, my hand?" I nodded.

"Why are you sticking it in my face?" Louis looked confused. He reached in his pack and pulled out a clip board. He started writing.

"What's your name?"

"Tazmin. I don't have a last name."

"Do you have a middle name?" I nodded.

"Tazmin Clearwater." As I said I said that, he wrote it.

He turned away to look at me. "You don't shake hands?"

"What's that?" He wrote it down.

Rikki swam up. "It's a greeting." I nodded.

"You can mind talk too?" Louis was writing things down so fast I swear the paper would burst into flames.

I nodded. "All mermaids can. Just look them in the eye and think what you want to say. Really easy."

"Ok, do you have any powers?"

"Like what?" he pointed to Cleo.

I turned away to look at her. She did this thing with her hand that made the water move. I looked at Emma no expression on my face. She froze part of the water. I turned to Rikki. She made the ice melt.

I smiled. I can do all three. I made the water move, then froze it, then I boiled it. I picked up a small handful of water. I moved my hand across it turning it into a fish with outlined scales and everything. I blew on it and it came to life. I dropped it in the water and it swam away.

"That good enough for you?" He nodded.

"Very impressive."

"Good. Can we stop the interview now?"

Louis shrugged. "I guess. My I have a sample of your hair?" I stared at him wide mouthed.

"You evil! Don't you know cutting a mermaid's hair is the worst thing you can do?"

Louis looked appalled. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. I made a column of water rise and splash Louis and his research. "Hey! I said I was sorry!"

Cleo swam up to me. "He said he was sorry. You should stop."

Rikki swam up to me. "No, let her keep going. This is awesome," she said with a laugh in her voice.

"Well, I'll stop. But if he tries to touch my hair, he's going bye-bye." They all nodded and we finished the interview. The funniest part was when he had asked me for my toenail and I flipped over showing the bottom of my tail saying "See if you can find one!"

I was having fun when Louis said, "Hey whose sundial is this?"

"That's mine." I looked. It said it was almost two. Like ten minutes later and it would be. "Oh no. I have to go. It's been fun talking to you guys and nice meeting you Louis. Well, besides the hair. But I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, I tucked the sundial in my bag and swam back to Atlantis. Just in time for curfew!


	5. Questions and Trinkets

I swam inside, nodding at my step-mom to acknowledge that I was home for curfew. I swam to the kitchen and filled my bag.

I went to my room and took out a blank sheet of paper. Time for my own interview! I wrote down things that I knew. This is what I had

_Shake hands as a greeting_

_Don't mind talk_

_Have only one power for each mermaid_

_Have last names_

_Half mermaids_

_Let humans know of their existence_

_Think of Atlantis as a myth_

_Think it's ok to cut hair_

Wow. Talk about different. I couldn't think of anymore. I put the paper in my desk drawer. It was getting late. It had taken a long time to write that list. I didn't want to go down to eat.

I pulled some food from my bag and thought about that boy, Louis. He had been in my future, and then I meet him. Wow. He was going to kissing me. Should I tell him? Maybe. Maybe if we get a chance alone. But what if it's too late and in that alone time he kisses me. He _seems_ nice enough. I giggled. Cleo LOVES him. I wonder what she'll think if she knew. Would she not want to be my friend? Would she hate me? I gulped. Would she tell the humans about me? I didn't know.

When I ask my dad about things like this, he always says, "Let the future unroll at its own pace, and when its time, you'll find out and blah, blah, blah, blah." Just annoying. He always talks like a fortune cookie.

I thought about what explores talk to their daughters about. Their latest travels, their newest data, or just saying that their little girl is beautiful and pretty. My dad has never talked to me about my looks.

For an ignored daughter, I have fairly good looks. I have my best feature. That's my hair. I have long, gorgeous, shimmery blond hair. Then I have my body. Ok, I have never had a boyfriend, but all the merboys say I look like a human bikini supermodel minus the tail. I say I probably do.

Not that my dad cares. As long as I follow his orders, he doesn't care what I look like.

But I like my new friends. And he can't take that away from me.

I was sitting (Sorta) on my bed when I heard a tap on my window. I looked up to see Skippy tapping on the window. I opened the latch and pulled the small bed from under my bed.

No one knows about Skippy. When I hear someone in the hallway, he dashes out the open window and I put his bed under my bed. But he's a complete secret. Though he's quite cuddly.

"Hi Tazmin. Did you see those mermaids again?" I nodded.

"They have a boy named Louis. He's a human." Skippy put a paw to his mouth.

"He is?" I nodded.

"And you want to know what's worse?" He nodded. "I saw in a dream that I'm going to kiss him. And Cleo, she's a mermaid, is I love with him." Skippy gasped.

"Love triangles." I nodded. I hated them as much as the next mermaid.

"I'm going to meet them tomorrow at Mako. I don't know if I should tell Louis. Or the girls. Especially Cleo. What do you think I should do, Skippy?"

Skippy thought for a bit then said, "I'd not tell anyone. Like your dad says, "Let the future happen at its own pace." I swallowed that bit of information. That made sense. Suddenly I heard something in the hall.

"Run Skippy!" He swam out and I hid the bed. I knew he wouldn't come back until tomorrow, so I shut the window. I saw the water get dark and I knew that I should either hed to the town for a few minutes or just stay here. I decided to hed to town.

The town's nothing interesting. It's one main street with shops on either side. At the end of Main Street the road splits in three. The two closest to you lead to the houses. I don't know what they look like though. The road straight ahead of you leads to the mermaid school. But I've never been there either.

But I was more interested in the shops. I decided to get some things for Cleo, Emma, Rikki, and Louis. For Emma, I bought a magical sea shell locket. Rikki was harder to get something. I wasn't sure what she'd want. I tried to think and picked out a magic ring. For Cleo, I bought a small magic mirror. And Louis, I bought him a magic telescope. I hoped they like them.

I knew the water was getting darker every minute, so I swam home. I went to my bed and snuggled in. a few minutes later, I fell asleep.

In my future I could see me kissing Louis again. I saw something else. It was like a giant cloud of evil black. And I could tell, it was coming strait to Atlantis.


	6. the Tuth is Told

I woke up next morning a bit late. I woke up and did my usual routine. I stretched and picked up my bag. I ate some food and swam down to breakfast. I picked up some more food and stuck it in my bag.

It was around nine, and I hoped the girls were at Mako. I had the gifts in my bag all ready to give out. I found my way to the gate and swam out.

When I got to Mako, the girls were already there. "Hi guys!"

"Tazmin!"

"Hi Taz!"

"Hey you're here." I nodded and gave a huge smile.

In my weirdest voice I said, "I come bearing gifts!" The girls laughed. "Seriously, I have gifts!" I swam to the cliff and pulled out the gifts. "Emma, I got you this locket." I pulled out the sea shell locket and said, "When you open it and ask it a question, it'll tell you the answer through pictures." Emma's jaw dropped.

I turned to Rikki. "Rikki, I got you this ring." I pulled out the ring and showed it to her. She swam over and put it on. "When you turn it in two three sixties, no matter how many lies someone tells you, you will know the truth." Rikki's jaw dropped.

I turned to Cleo. "Cleo, I got you this mirror. It does two things. Ask it what you want to see, and it will show you." I pulled out the mirror to show her. "The second is, it will show you who your true love is when you say their name." Cleo's jaw dropped. Sweet. I had three jaw drops. "Is Louis coming soon?" Cleo nodded.

"He said that he wanted to finish his tests on the DNA he got from you. Then he'll come here as soon as possible." I nodded. "Why, do you have something for him?"I nodded. I pulled out the telescope.

Rikki swam up to see it closer. "What does it do?"

"I think it shows you what people are feeling on the inside. Either that or it shows you the future." Rikki's jaw dropped again.

"This is so cool Tazmin!" I smiled. I'm glad they liked them. They cost me a lot.

We were talking for a while when Louis came in. "Hey everyone."

Cleo swam over. "Louis. You got here fast. What did the test say?"

"Wait," I said. "I want to give Louis the gift first!"

Cleo thought it over for a while then said, "Alright. Louis, Tazmin brought over some presents. She got you this telescope."

"Oh, thanks!" He looked at the large blue coral tube. It had some coral growing on it and a few barnacles on it too. "I needed a new telescope." He took it from my hand and jumped. He had it pointed strait at me. He pulled it down and looked wide eyed at me. "What did you do to this telescope?" I laughed.

"I didn't. the mermaid that made it did. It either tells you what others are thinking or it tells you the future." He didn't look to happy.

I stared at him and mind said, "What did you see?"

Out loud he stuttered for a minute, then said out loud, "I don't mind talk."

I mind said, "Just look at me and think hard what you want to say."

He nodded. "I saw you kissing me" he mind said. I nodded.

"Thanks for the telescope Tazmin. It's really cool." I smiled. I looked up to see the sun right above me.

"Hold on, I need to check the time." I pulled out the sundial and saw that I had about ten minutes. "Man, I need to talk to my dad about extending curfew. Sorry guys, I have to go." I looked at Louis and mind said, "Tell NO ONE."

With that I swam out and back to Atlantis.


	7. The Coners of the Ocean

I nodded to my step-mother to acknowledge I was home. I went to my room. I pulled out a paper and wrote

_Dear Father,_

_I need to ask you about the curfew. I was hoping we could get an extension. I mean, human girls' curfew is, like, nine. I know were not humans, but still, we have to be here at two! So if we could get an extension on our curfew, I promise I will never ever miss another curfew again._

_Sincerely,_

_Your daughters_

Man I hope this works. I put the letter in an envelope and took some wax and put my stamp on the envelope. He likes fancy letters better than plain. I wrote on the back:

_To the king_

And stuck it in the mail box.

I turned to the window when I heard a tapping noise and found Skippy. I opened the window and pulled out the bed. "Hi Taz. Did you see Louis and the other mermaids again?"

I nodded. "You know that telescope I gave him?" He nodded. "Well, it told him the future. Guess what he saw."

Skippy gasped. "He saw you kissing him didn't he."

"Yeah. I told him not to tell anyone so we're safe." Skippy let out a sigh of relief.

"What if the girls ask him what he saw?"

"I don't know. He'll make something up I guess."

There was a noise out in the hall. It was just my sisters were talking, but Skippy swam out the window. I closed the window and put the bed under mine.

I decided to go out to the town. I went to the library and went to the fiction book shelf. I searched for a book about humans. Naturally there wasn't any so I searched for books about Exploring.

I pulled out a book I love. It's called Corners of the Sea. I love it! I've read it about twelve times. I opened to the first page and sat down.

_Corners of the Sea_

_By Bella the explorer_

I turned the page to the first page.

_Chapter One_

_Introduction and Pipes_

_Dear reader, or should I say future explorers. You have picked up an adventure by picking up this book. You've picked up the loggings of my journeys across, well, the corners of the sea. I have had some scary encounters but if you're even in this section of this library, you shouldn't even care._

That part always made me laugh.

_My first adventure wasn't far from where you're standing right now. It was around starfish caves. I found a small pipe. It wasn't very big. I stuck my fingers in it, then my hand, soon my entire body had shrunk and I was in the pipe. I traveled into many places. I went to human bath tubs, retention ponds, and really, any body of water as long it had pipes._

"Human bath tubs? I could visit Cleo!"

_I told my friends about it and then they tried it. Apparently, this pipe traveling works for any mermaid._

I closed the book and swam to the cheek out desk. I handed the librarian the book and my card. She raised her eyebrow. "Again?"

"I love it." She smiled.

"If you like it so much maybe you should keep it. No one else cheeks it out."

"Really?" She nodded. "Thanks. So much!" I smiled brightly and swam out the door. I had missed dinner so I ate out of my bag. I sat on the bed and opened the book.

_The pipe traveling went over great with the king. We found a way to communicate with the other mermaid kingdoms by using the pipe traveling. _

_The king has granted me access to travel and explore using the pipe works. I've been exploring the regions near Atlantica. I have met other people and mermaids that life by slightly different rules._

_My next adventure was around Atlantica. In a place they all called Shark Canyon._

I remembered the chapter about Shark Canyon. She didn't get attacked by sharks. The Canyon was shaped like a shark and home to a giant squid. Inside the canyon were these rare sparkle shells.

I decided I'd try out the pipe traveling method tomorrow. Tomorrow I'd go see Cleo. Boy won't she be surprised!


	8. Nalu

I put the book in my bag, a grin spreading across my face. So far it was a pretty good day.

I was swimming back to the castle when a familiar voice hit my ears. "Nori? Is that you?"

I turned around to see the face of Nalu.

Ok, I need to explain. Nalu is the son of a book store keeper. I met him when I was exploring a ship wreck. His father was looking for human books, while I was looking for human objects. I was looking at maps when Nalu came in.

Nalu's the one who taught me how to read human.

_**Flashback**_

_I pulled down the first map. I couldn't read its title but it was a land I've never seen. _

_Intrigued I pulled it off the rack and set it on the table. I looked it over. I realized this map is very old. This was awesome! An amazing discovery!_

"_Excuse me? Can I help you?" I looked up to see a young merman, with a green tail, and dark brown hair. He was holding an armful of human books. The titles completely mystified me. I couldn't read human._

"_Uh…maybe. Do you read human?" He nodded. "Come here." He swam over next to me. "What's this map of?"_

_He looked at the title. "This is map is very old. It's from a long time ago." He explained to me how the humans used to think that the world was a lot smaller. When they finally came to the other half, their maps we're only what they'd explored which wasn't much. _

"_Oh, so this is the un finished east half of the world." He nodded. "Thanks for explaining that."_

_He smiled. He had a dazzling mouth of white teeth. "So what's your name?"_

_I couldn't tell him I was Princess Tazmin. "Um…My name's…Nori."_

"_Nori." I smiled as he said it. "I'm Nalu, swim with you." He bowed like a gentleman._

_I smiled. "Swim with you too." I bowed back. Swim with you is the classic mermaid greeting. It's short for 'I look forward to Swimming with you.' _

"_So what are you doing here?" He said. _

_I smiled. "I love exploring ship wrecks and seeing what I can find. Unfortunately I don't know what they all are." I spread my collection out in front of him. _

_One was a small, metal circle that was about 3 centimeters high, and had a red needle pointing to different human letters._

_Another was a collection of three things. A metal sick with its top a large deep divot. Another was the same metal stick with four prongs. The last one was a thick metal stick with a thinner, longer top with a rigged edge._

_There were also several rings, necklaces, and pins._

_But the weirdest one by far was very odd. It looked like a mini trumpet, but made from wood. It had scotch marks in the large end, and the other end was a very small rectangle. _

"_Well," He said, "This," he pointed to the metal circle with the arrow, "Is a compass. It always points north. And these," He pointed to the three metal stick objects, "Are utensils. Humans use them to eat. Those are jewelry. You probably knew that." I smiled. "And this is a smoking pipe."_

"_Hmm…" I picked the pipe up. "How does this work?" I blew on the end like a trumpet. The water around it turned back. "Agh! Ew!"_

_Nalu laughed. "Nori, I have a feeling that we're going to spend a long time together."_

_**End Flashback**_

I turned to look at him. "Oh, hi Nalu!" I swam over to him.

"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while! Not since the week after the last full moon festival!"

I blushed. "Oh, well…I've been busy." I smiled.

"It's nice to see you. You've been reading a lot?"

I nodded. I remembered the book in my bag. "Oh yeah! Hey look at my latest find." I pulled the book out.

He read the title and author. Then his eyes widened. "Bella the explorer wrote a book? I didn't know that!" He held the book with awe.

"Oh, you want to read it it's my copy and I've read it like a hundred times."

"Oh, can I?" I nodded. He took the book. "Thanks!" he came forward and hugged me. I was shocked but I hugged back. He let go.

"So, how you've been?" I asked.

"Oh great. I've been fantastic. How about you?"

I nodded, unsure of what to say. "Oh, I've been doing…great too."

There was an awkward silence.

"So," I started, "The full moon festival's coming up soon."

"Yeah," He said as if he just remembered something, "Speaking of that, I was wondering…um…are you doing anything? Like, for the festival?"

I shook my head. "Um, I don't think so." I remembered the girls on land, Cleo, Emma, and Rikki. "But I might have some friends over."

He nodded. He looked slightly dejected. "But that's it. Other than that, I'm totally free."

He brightened up. "Oh, cool. Cause I was wondering if you wanted to hang out for the festival."

_Well, if I'm not going to be upfront with my father and sisters during the full moon's highest point, or with my human friends who turn into mermaids, then I can hang out with you._

Man, sometimes I wish I didn't lie to him.

"Um…probably. I've got some prior arrangements to deal with, but they won't last long."

He smiled. "Cool. That'll be great. I hope to see you there. Um…how bout we meet at my dad's store. You know where that is right?"

"Yeah," I said as I nodded vigorously.

"Cool, I'll see you then. I've got to head back to the shop. Thanks for the book." We both smiled. He hugged me again. "It's great to see you again, Nori."

I grinned from ear to ear. "It's great to see you too, Nalu." He smiled as he swam away.

I felt good, but also bad. I'd been lying to my family and Nalu. I couldn't take it much longer.

I decided to head back to the castle. As I swam back I tried to sort out my head. I hated lying, yet I found myself making up stories a lot these days!

I shook my head, trying to shake the thoughts out, when I saw it. It was just a small glimmer far out, past the borders in the sand. Shipwrecks don't normally happen so close, nor do they drop things along the way.

I swam out to it to see it closer. I kept a good eye on the castle, not wanting this to turn into a siren trap and not have someone at the castle to see it.

I finally reached it. I pulled it out of the sand and got a good look at it. "Huh…weird."

It was a black glass sphere with various designs and writing in golden paint. There was some pattern in it in writings I couldn't read. It wasn't human, and it wasn't Mer. I looked closely at it, and could see that there was something inside it. It was a cylinder shape with something thin and white at the top. It was very beautiful, but something about it wasn't right. Something dark.

I turned it around in my hand. Then I saw two symbols I recognized. The first symbol was Mer for "storm", and the other was the one symbol of Siren my dad had taught me. The symbol for "Trap."

I immediately tried to drop the ball, but whatever magic was on this ball made the ball stuck to my hand. I couldn't let it go. I started to panic. I tried using my own magic, but it wasn't working. "Let me go!" I yelled at it. Then I heard whispers in the current.

"Swirl around, the whirlpool, fast and black and true. Take this mer far away, away from any sea's view."

The current started to speed up, getting fast. Swirling around me, getting faster and faster. The water turned into white water. That's when I realized what was happening.

The sirens were creating a whirlpool to capture me.

I screamed for help, but the water was too loud. I screamed names! I screamed for my sisters, Ottie, my father, Emma, Rikki, Cleo. Heck! I even screamed for Lewis! Then for my last chance, I screamed, "NALU!" I could hear something screaming on the outside of the whirlpool, but I couldn't hear it completely clearly.

The chant became louder and louder! Till the words were all I could hear. The water turned black and started rushing around me faster and faster. I closed my eyes and waited for this to be over. I curled up in a little ball. I'm not sure if I was moving or not, but this black egg was not letting up and seemed to be sucking something out of me. I grew tired quickly. I tried to fight and hold on, afraid that if I went to sleep, I wouldn't wake up. Eventually I had to give in. I dropped my head and closed my eyes. "Nalu…," I whispered one last time before falling asleep.

**Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I lasted updated this, but it's about time. Sorry it's short and parts don't make sense, but they will! Don't worry! Anyways, I love you guys! Thanks for your support! And I'm working on the next chapter. So until next time!**

**~Zoe**


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